This man is amazing. Watch this video and I dare you not to feel better about yourself and whatever your situation is. I stumbled across this on a Facebook site called "Positively Positive." I thought, "Are they trying to steal my thunder?"
I was so pleased to see that it is brimming over with inspiration, encouragement, and positive ideas. It is everything I wanted this blog to be. Scope it out.
Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Help With Forgiveness
This little article by Joyce Meyer has so much to say about the power of forgiveness. In my own life I have learned that forgiveness does far much for ME than for the person who did the offending. Often times they don't know or even care that you are hurt. Forgiveness is for us, and sometimes we have to do it by faith. When you don't feel like forgiving someone, that is when you have to just do it by faith, and probably when you need to do it the most.
I hope you get a blessing out of this article. I know I did.
How to Follow Forgiveness Instead of Our Emotions
How do you respond when someone hurts your feelings? Do you let it rob you of joy? Or maybe your emotions run wild?
Luke 6:27,28 NIV tells us what we should do when people hurt us:
I hope you get a blessing out of this article. I know I did.
How to Follow Forgiveness Instead of Our Emotions
by Joyce Meyer
Luke 6:27,28 NIV tells us what we should do when people hurt us:
But I tell you who hear me: Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who mistreat you.
Can you believe that? We’re to pray something like, “Oh, Lord, I pray that You’d just make them so happy!”
I still don’t get that, but I’m willing to do it in obedience and say, “Lord, I don’t know that I really want them to be happy, but I’ll pray that in faith anyway, because You’re telling me to bless them with Your presence.”
Luke 6:35 NIV goes further. It says:
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
A Tip for Following Forgiveness
Now, let’s get practical about how to do this. If we have a coworker who gets the promotion that we’ve been believing God for, the minute we start to feel jealousy and envy, we need to go buy them a gift.
Yes, you heard me right: buy them a gift. It works. When we do it, it breaks the power of the devil because Romans 12:21 says that we overcome evil with good. It’s absolutely true too. I have learned this principle and it has been life-changing for me.
What I Did When Someone Hurt Me
For example, a few years ago someone told me about a person who was doing business with our ministry and making a good deal of money because of their relationship with us. My friend happened to be at the same restaurant, seated in the next booth and overheard their conversation, which just happened to be about me—and they weren’t saying good things either.
At first I got mad and just wanted to tell him that he was never getting our business again.
But in bed that night, the Holy Spirit said to me, “You’re not going to do any of those things.” He said, “No, you’re going to do what you teach. You’re going to go buy him a present, and you’re going to tell him how much you appreciate the services that he’s given you all these years.”
Needless to say, I resisted at first. But eventually I relented and bought him a gift.
What You Must Do When Someone Hurts You
What I remember most about the situation is that as soon as I started taking action to do something good for them, it just got so funny to me. I was laughing out loud in my house, all by myself.
Listen: When we can look at people who’ve hurt us with compassion and pray what Jesus prayed “…Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” there’s a party that goes on inside of us.
I think most of the time people don’t even realize what they are doing. That man in the restaurant who was talking about me had no idea what he was doing and the position that he was putting himself in.
Why You Must Follow Forgiveness
That’s why we need to pray for them and say, “God forgive them.” In fact, what does God say will happen to us when we obey His Word?
Luke 6:35 states “…and then your recompense (your reward) will be great (rich, strong, intense, and abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High….” God tells us that we’ll receive a reward. We will get double for our trouble if we will do things His way.
The Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins. Do you know what that means? It means that love will even have you making excuses for your enemies. Someone might come up to us and say, “Well, I heard what so-and-so did to you.”
When we really decide to forgive someone and pray the prayer that blesses our enemies, making the decision that we will not talk bad about them, but instead, cover their fault and their mess, we still might not feel any different.
Now, I believe choosing forgiveness is one of the most difficult things God asks us to do, especially if we believe that whoever hurt us is in the wrong and doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.
But God instructs us to practice forgiveness. And when we choose to follow the path of forgiveness, we will experience the peace and joy that come through obeying God’s Word.
Can you believe that? We’re to pray something like, “Oh, Lord, I pray that You’d just make them so happy!”
I still don’t get that, but I’m willing to do it in obedience and say, “Lord, I don’t know that I really want them to be happy, but I’ll pray that in faith anyway, because You’re telling me to bless them with Your presence.”
Luke 6:35 NIV goes further. It says:
But love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be sons of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.
A Tip for Following Forgiveness
Now, let’s get practical about how to do this. If we have a coworker who gets the promotion that we’ve been believing God for, the minute we start to feel jealousy and envy, we need to go buy them a gift.
Yes, you heard me right: buy them a gift. It works. When we do it, it breaks the power of the devil because Romans 12:21 says that we overcome evil with good. It’s absolutely true too. I have learned this principle and it has been life-changing for me.
What I Did When Someone Hurt Me
For example, a few years ago someone told me about a person who was doing business with our ministry and making a good deal of money because of their relationship with us. My friend happened to be at the same restaurant, seated in the next booth and overheard their conversation, which just happened to be about me—and they weren’t saying good things either.
At first I got mad and just wanted to tell him that he was never getting our business again.
But in bed that night, the Holy Spirit said to me, “You’re not going to do any of those things.” He said, “No, you’re going to do what you teach. You’re going to go buy him a present, and you’re going to tell him how much you appreciate the services that he’s given you all these years.”
Needless to say, I resisted at first. But eventually I relented and bought him a gift.
What You Must Do When Someone Hurts You
What I remember most about the situation is that as soon as I started taking action to do something good for them, it just got so funny to me. I was laughing out loud in my house, all by myself.
Listen: When we can look at people who’ve hurt us with compassion and pray what Jesus prayed “…Father, forgive them for they know not what they do,” there’s a party that goes on inside of us.
I think most of the time people don’t even realize what they are doing. That man in the restaurant who was talking about me had no idea what he was doing and the position that he was putting himself in.
Why You Must Follow Forgiveness
That’s why we need to pray for them and say, “God forgive them.” In fact, what does God say will happen to us when we obey His Word?
Luke 6:35 states “…and then your recompense (your reward) will be great (rich, strong, intense, and abundant), and you will be sons of the Most High….” God tells us that we’ll receive a reward. We will get double for our trouble if we will do things His way.
The Bible says that love covers a multitude of sins. Do you know what that means? It means that love will even have you making excuses for your enemies. Someone might come up to us and say, “Well, I heard what so-and-so did to you.”
When we really decide to forgive someone and pray the prayer that blesses our enemies, making the decision that we will not talk bad about them, but instead, cover their fault and their mess, we still might not feel any different.
Now, I believe choosing forgiveness is one of the most difficult things God asks us to do, especially if we believe that whoever hurt us is in the wrong and doesn’t deserve to be forgiven.
But God instructs us to practice forgiveness. And when we choose to follow the path of forgiveness, we will experience the peace and joy that come through obeying God’s Word.
Joyce Meyer's Website: http://www.joycemeyer.org
Original Post:
http://www.joycemeyer.org/OurMinistries/EverydayAnswers/Articles/art52.htm?utm_source=Facebook&utm_campaign=EverydayAnswers&utm_medium=post&utm_term=June10&utm_content=post
Friday, June 4, 2010
Fun and Friendly Friday Follow
Making New Friends
Hey Blog Pals!
How are y'all this fine Friday? I hope the week has been good to ya, and I hope you have lots of fun summer plans to enjoy your weekend!
When it comes to meeting people and making friends, I am always so impressed with my 11 year old twins, Sophie and Jesse. Where ever we go, whether to the swimming pool, Wal-Mart, church, doesn't matter...they have an uncanny ability to attract new friends. They are just friendly and they like everybody so other kids respond in kind.
Some times they meet a kid at the toy aisle in Walgreens and have a great time for ten minutes and never see that person again, but while they are talking and laughing, they are having so much fun! When I look at one of them talking to a kid I can't tell if it is a friend they know from school or church or just some new pal they just met.
I love that about kids...they want to be friends with everybody! I have always kind of been that way myself...I really honestly LIKE most people that I meet and I'm happy to be friends with them. Like my little girl says, "You can never have too many friends!"
She's absolutely right, and in an effort to be more like her and her brother, I am extending an extra friendly Texas welcome for all of y'all to come and visit me here at my blog. I will do my best to check out each and every one of your blogs too and follow along...no matter how long it takes me to get through them all. I know from my past blog hopping there are some awesome blogs out there with some incredible women behind the keyboard creating them, and I'm looking forward to meeting each of ya!
So have a happy Friday Follow and good luck with all those new friends I know you are going to make!
P.S. If you like Texas, country music, or freakishly tall cowboy statues, you might enjoy my other blog, Happy Trails...you can check it out here. Thanks! :-)
http://www.happytrailsfromcanyon.blogspot.com/
Chris
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Five Question Friday
1. Do you have an iPhone and, if so, how do you get apps and what are your favorites?
2. What is your fondest memory of K-3rd grade?
3. What makes you cringe at the thought of touching?
4. If you could have any celebrity show up on your doorstep who would it be and why?
5. What would you say is your best physical feature?
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1. Do you have an iPhone and, if so, how do you get apps and what are your favorites?
No, but all my friends are getting them and going on and ON about how awesome they are. I was at Best Buy shopping for a lap top the other day and they had a buncha iPads hooked up for people to play with. WOW. I almost totally blew off the lap top to get the iPad. BUT...it has that touch keyboard and I type a lot. HOWEVER...I would LOVE to have an iPad just to play with, take on road trips, be able to be on the internet, blog, tweet...whatever, from where ever. But an iPhone...the screen is so teeeny! And so are the little buttons! So I vote for an iPad.
2. What is your fondest memory of K-3rd grade?
When I was in 2nd grade we lived in Corpus Christi, Texas, and our class took a field trip to the Wonder Bread factory, or bakery, or whatever it is called. They showed us all the big mixing bowls and the flour and the whole fascinating process, and after the tour, they gave us FRESH wonder bread with peanut butter and jelly. That was a very good day in 2nd grade.
3. What makes you cringe at the thought of touching?
Snakes. Any kind. Ewwwwww. Totally.
4. If you could have any celebrity show up on your doorstep who would it be and why?
Well, I am just the world's biggest George Strait fan, and have been for some time, and I would just be tickled if he knocked on my door. I would totally invite him out to the patio for a few cold longnecks. Then I would ask him how he got so handsome, I mean how he got interested in singing. Oh, just so many questions...like which of his many songs is his favorite. I almost cry every time I hear "Amarillo By Mornin." I love that man, I mean that song. :-)
5. What would you say is your best physical feature?
I would say my smart alecky sense of humor. What? That is not a physical feature?? Oh, well then I guess my eyes. They're blue, like every person in my family tree for generations. I think that is kinda cool.
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Okay, my fellow 5QF'ers...it's time to link up! I am looking forward to reading your posts!!
Get Your Freak On - Bad Romance
After watching GLEE (my FAVORITE show!) last week and their tribute to Lady Gaga, I knew exactly what song I wanted to use for this today. I never really got the whole Lady Gaga thing, but some of her music is all right! I have to say I really dig the Glee kids doing it a lot better! And those costumes are just kind of out there. But this song is totally bad A!!
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